I have always been able to sense when someone or a family pet has passed. I always seem to know right at the moment it happens. I just somehow know and feel it. My most distinct memory of this ability happened was when I was about 13. I was in school and somehow, I just knew my grandmother on my real father's side had just died. I was living in Connecticut and she was in Texas. Apparently she had been sick for sometime and I was completely unaware of the situation.
When my mother came to pick me up she was about to tell me about my grandmother, when I interrupted her and said Grandma Olivia died. She asked me how I knew. All I could say was I didn't know. Ever since then I can always sense when some one passes, doesn't have to be a family member, just someone I know. I also have family members that passed frequently visit me in my dreams.
Lately I have been trying to focus my ability and noticed I can sense people's and pets emotional energy. I'm not sure if it's Empathy or what abilities I've been gifted. I do know that as a child I could see and hear spirits, but blocked that ability (and don't want it) because it scared me. Can it have something to do with that, and how can I focus my other abilities more?